On the Rise
by Why.So.Serious13
Summary: This is the story in which Bella experiences loss, friendship, love, and the rise to fame with her band, Crossfire. Starts out as JasperxBella. AH/AU way OOC
1. Flushing Out the Bad

**(The songs in this fic belong to their writers. I have one huge disclaimer for everything I don't own)**

"_I'm just a breath away, I'm just a step away. Loosin' my faith today, fallin' off the edge today." _Jake and I sang as I ripped the hell out of my guitar. Mike was pounding the shit out of his drums and Aden was 'bom'-ing away on his bass.

"_I am just a man, not super human. I'm not super- _Hey!" I yelled when my four year old half-brother came in and unplugged the power strip that had all our equipment plugged in.

"Brett, what do you think you're doing?" I raised my voice only slightly

"Mom wanted you." He said and took off running.

"What did you need mother!?" I yelled.

"Come here and send your little friends home!" She called back. I huffed and walked back out to our garage.

"Sorry, guys. Gotta go. Mom's mad." I waved my hands in a dismissing motion.

"Bye, Bells." They waved and got in Aden's crappy old van. I closed the garage door and jogged back inside.

"So..."

"Have a seat." My mom gestured to the uncomfortable wing-backed chair. I skeptically sat and looked at her and my step-dad. He looked in disgust at me, as usual.

"We were thinking, that you aren't the best influence on your brother." Phil started but I cut him off.

"_Half-_brother."

"Anyway, we think you should go to this reform school we were looking at."

"There is no way in hell I'm going to a school where every kid was shoved through a cookie cutter."

"Isabella, you don't speak to your father and I like that." Renee scolded and I looked at her in astonishment. Was she really that crazy? I wished I lived with my real father and brother. I missed them.

"He's not my father, you crazy bitch. He is in no relation to me. I don't like him, you know that?"

"Give me your guitar. Hand over your laptop. Cell phone, iPod. Everything. You are here on out grounded. Until you leave next week."

"Why?" I nearly screeched, showing my fury through my face.

"Because. We're flushing the bad out of you. You listen to that devil music. You talk back. You're not a pure soul. Evil and vile words spill from your mouth every day and I won't allow it. Go to your room. We'll speak with you later."

"No. I'm calling Emmett. He won't let this happen."

"What makes you think he wants you?" Phil sneered. His face was so close to mine during this shouting match, he spat a little bit when he yelled. I pulled my fist back and let fly right at his nose. Blood gushed as he stumbled backwards.

"I HATE YOU!!" I screamed as I stomped out the door, towards Jake's next door.

I flung the door open and flopped on his couch.

"Hey, Billy." I nodded to his dad, who only smiled. "Can I use your phone?" He handed me the wireless and I ran to Jake's attic bedroom.

I dialed the number to my brother's in Seattle. I walked in and lied down on Jake's bed as my older brother picked up the phone.

"Hullo?" A bored voice answered.

"Emmett?" I asked.

"Hey, Bells."

"Em, they're sending me to a reform school. Save me."

"Come stay with me. I've still got an extra room. And I'll pay for everything." Oh, I forgot to mention that my brother was loaded. He played football for the Seattle Seahawks. "Well, you're eighteen, aren't you?"

"No, seventeen." What's he thinking?

"Fuck. You could come up here."

"Really?" There was so much hope in my voice.

"Sure. So when do you want to come?"

"How about tomorrow?"

"Okay. I'll arrange for your flight. For tomorrow morning. Send anything you have before hand and I'll get it."

"Em, thank you. Love you."

"Love you, too."

"Bye."

"Bye."

I hung up just as Jake walked out of his bathroom and I tackled him. "I'm leaving. Living with Emmett!" I squealed, bouncing up and down. Even though I would miss him and the others, I was so happy I was leaving.

"I've gotta go pack." I hopped down the steps, leaving a dumbfounded Jacob in my wake.

I skipped in my house, right passed Renee, who was trying to push Phil's nose back into place. I giggled and waved. "I'm going to Em's!" I squealed happily and went to pack my room. I was walking on air, elated, the happiest I've ever been in my life.

Placing the ear buds in my ears, I danced around my room, putting things in boxes. My pictures went in one box. Cd's in one. DVD's in another. My clothes filled all my suitcases. I smacked some duct tape on the boxes and took them down the street to the post office.

When I got back, I packed the rest of my stuff and put them in boxes also, figuring I could take them on the flight tomorrow. My cell buzzed in my pocket and I answered.

"Speak."

"Bells, I've got your flight set up for tomorrow. I have your ticket waiting at the airport for tomorrow. Flight 379."

"Oh my god, Em. Thank you so much. You have no idea how much this means to me."

"No. It's fine. I missed you so much. This'll be fun." I could hear him chuckle on the other line.

"Okay. My stuff will be there in a week or so, I sent it just now. Bye." I hung up when I heard Renee stomping up the stairs.

"Isabella Marie. What you did just now is unacceptable. You will not be living with your brother. I forbid it."

"Shove it. I'm leaving tomorrow at ten in the morning." I slammed the door in her face and locked it.

Climbing out my window and across the roof, I knocked on Brett's. He opened it and motioned for me to come inside. I love the heck out of this kid.

"Hey, Bud." I ruffled his hair and sat on his bed.

"What just happened down there?" He asked, looking at his hands.

"Nothing for you to be concerned about. I'm just going away with my brother for a while." I hugged him and kissed his head.

"Why'd you punch daddy?"

"He said some very mean things to me."

"Oh." He said.

"Yeah. Do you want to come watch movies with me in my room?" I asked.

"Nope. Daddy said I had to read my little kid Bible." This poor kid's dad was worse than the preacher himself. I mean, I'm a Christian and everything, but I'm not into the whole going to church, spiritual healing, chastity until marriage, kind of thing.

"C'mon. I'll protect you." I laughed. He smiled a toothy grin and followed me back across the roof to my room. We sat on the rug and flipped through the On Demand movies on my TV. The preacher and his wife banned everything rated above G. Luckily, I knew the security code.

"What to watch?" I asked him.

"How 'bout that one?" He pointed to the one on the screen called 'National Lampoon's Van Wilder.' I shrugged and clicked it, never seeing it before.

Oh! Bad idea to watch with a small child sitting beside you. Within the first twenty minutes, I covered his ears and fumbled to turn it off.

Okay, now I looked through my saved movies and clicked one that I knew was appropriate, well, mostly anyway. 'They Live.'

When my favorite part came, I said the line with Roddy Piper. "I'm here to kick ass and chew bubblegum. And I'm all out of bubblegum."

The morning came almost too quickly. Brett and I were still laying on the rug. My alarm clock beeped and I shut it off quickly. I took off the small silver cross that I always wore, that I've had since I was born, and put it in Brett's small fist. I kissed his head and gathered my backpack and left for the airport with Jake, who was driving me.

"Bye, Bells." Jake hugged me and I ran down the gate to sweet freedom.

**Playlist:**

**Hero-Skillet**

**Better Off-Theory of a Deadman**

**All I Ever Wanted-Shinedown**

**Hate My Life-Theory of a Deadman**


	2. Have a Smoke?

When I stepped off the plane, I spilled all my stuff out of my backpack. As I reached down to pick it up, I heard this horrendous 'RIIPPPP' that was my pants. I felt a slight breeze back there and covered my ass with my backpack.

"Nice ass, honey." This creepy looking teenager said.

"What the hell did you just say?" A booming voice came from behind me. I took my sweatshirt off and tied it around my waist.

"Emmy!" I spun in my heel and hugged his waist tightly.

"Bella!" He picked me up and spun me around. "I'm so happy you're here." We got my other bag from the conveyor belt.

His apartment was the shit. I loved it. It was a studio-type of apartment in the front, everything connected and open, but there was a door at the back, leading to the bedrooms and bathrooms.

"And this is your room. Free to do with it what you will." He showed me to a room two times the size of my old one.

"And, finally, the house rules." Emmett said as we sat down on one of the huge couches in his living room.

"Okay?"

"No drugs."

"Got it."

"Neither of us will bring our dates home if the other is here."

"M'kay."

"No clubbing alone."

"Kay."

"And lastly, have some fun. Get dressed. We're checking out the town tonight." He slapped my knee and walked into his room.

I changed and my outfit was a pair of short jean shorts with the bottoms of the pockets, that were red plaid, sticking out below the hemline with a multicolored stud belt, a tight 30 Seconds To Mars "Welcome to the Universe" t-shirt and my bright red Converse. Paired with my Metallica hooded sweatshirt.

"Hey, ready to go?" I asked as I walked into the kitchen. He nodded and motioned for me to follow him.

We walked the street for a while and stopped a few times, and once for me to light a cigarette. I really needed to quit.

"I can't believe you smoke." Em shook his head slightly, a smirk on his lips. "I remember you taking and hiding dad's. You were so little."

"Yeah, well, I've been dealing with shit, and I ain't dealing too good." I dropped the butt and scuffed it on the sidewalk.

"Want something to eat?" He asked me after going in and out of little shops on Capitol Hill for about an hour and a half.

"Um, sure." I nodded and went to sit on a bench while Em went up to a street vendor. I lit another cigarette and took a long drag.

"You have a smoke?" A voice like sweet molasses asked. I pulled the pack of Winston Light's out of my pocket and looked to the stranger. He was wearing a pair of light blue, worn from wear, jeans, leather motorcycle jacket and some riding boots. He had a strong jawline and eyes like the ocean. A red bandanna held honey colored curls to his head.

"Ey, Azz." Emmett's voice was muffled by the three hot dogs he's shoved in his mouth. Em swallowed without chewing and introduced us.

"Bella, this is my buddy, Jasper. Jasper, this is my little sis. No corrupting her."

"Hey." He said to me in that warm honey voice.

"Hi." I shook a cigarette into his hand and he brought it to his lips.

"See ya, man. Nice to meet you, Bella. Maria is waiting for me at the shop." Jasper got up and walked away.

The rest of the night passed. My mind was too clouded by thoughts of Jasper to actually listen to things Em was saying. He was currently jabbering in my ear about something and I nodded my head absently.

"You are so out of it, tonight!" He exclaimed.

"Sorry. It's kind of a lot to take in."

"Yeah. Do you want to go back to the house?"

"Sure."

We headed back to the apartment and stayed up all night watching movies and pigging out. I woke up to someone poking me in the back of the head. I ended up sleeping on the couch with the blanket over most of my head so only a tuft of brown hair was showing up. I'm pretty sure I looked about three times my actual size, Emmett likes things cold at night.

"Ugh!" I groaned, sounding like an angry bear.

"Sorry, man. It's just Maria. Help me." It was the voice I'd spent the last 12 hours dreaming about. Jasper was sitting on my legs and I groaned again, kicking them trying to get him to move.

"I ain't no fuckin' Emmett. Go check his room." I finally got out.

"Whoa. Sorry, Bells. Didn't know. You really are his sister. Do you mind if I crash here for a few days?"

"Nah. But you'd have to ask Em."

"Thanks. Can I talk to you for a minute? I need a girl's opinion."

"You're probably better off talking to Emmett but, anyway, what about?"

"My shit idea of a relationship." He chuckled and I pulled myself into an upright position on the couch.

He looked really bad. Red eyes, five o clock shadow, dark purple circles under his eyes.

"Lay it on me."

"Well...I've been with this girl, Maria for about six months. She broke up with me last night. I'm such an idiot. I thought she loved me. All she really loved was my dick."

"Oh. I know how that goes. Sadly enough, when I was fifteen, I was a freshman. Mom held me back a year, because of my birthday. A senior started hanging out with us. Laurent DePao. I was about the same size as I am now, then. We went out on a few dates. We had sex. And he dumped me the next day." I couldn't believe I told a complete stranger what I hadn't even told my mom, or Jake for that matter.

"Wow. That makes my problem looks like a wussy complaint compared to yours." He shook his head and actually looked pretty mad.

"Eh. It's ancient history. God I feel old. That was four years ago. So anyway, what happened last night. You looked okay when Em and I saw you."

"I proposed to her and she said that she felt like she wasn't that committed."

"Ouch."

"Yep. Anyway, after I got totally smashed and passed out at the bar, I came here."

"Tell me more about yourself. You seem like a pretty close friend to Emmett." I offered to start a conversation.

"Umm. I was born in Texas. My mom and dad sent me to a private school here in Seattle for high school. I met Em when I was working at this tattoo shop across town. Him and one of his buddies were completely plastered and semi-baked. I talked them down from getting huge fairy wings on their backs." I busted out laughing. Emmett has been known for some really stupid stunts and Jasper just told me about the mother load of them all. "What about you?"

"Well, when our parents split, I was nine, Em was sixteen, mom took me and dad took Emmett. She moved us to Arizona. I'm originally from a little town about four hours north of here. Anyway, she married a guy more religious than the preacher himself. My younger brother is going to be in hell when he gets older. Jake, my best friend and I formed a band three years ago, Crosswire. Everybody in it can sing, except poor Mikey-"

"Yes, sister, don't get me started on his dying cat singing." Emmett came into the living room, rubbing his eyes.

"You sound like a cow being slaughtered!" I countered.

"Touche. How's your guitar coming?"

"Well, we've perfected, like, a bunch of songs so far."

"What ones?"

"You don't know them. I wrote them in the past few months." I grinned in pride.

"Whoa! So much better than the crap job you did the last time I saw you." Emmett let out a huge belly laugh.

"Hey! I was ten!" I cried. "At least I didn't pissed and kick the piano. You broke, what, three of your toes?"

"I love this little sibling rivalry thing, but I'm freakin' hungry." Jasper got up off my legs and went to the kitchen.

"Ooh! Make me pancakes, Jazzy!" I squealed.

"Dude! Make some banana pancakes!" Em yelled at Jasper.

"Only if I can have some help." Jasper called.

"I burn ice!" Em took himself out of the running for help.

"I'll help." I got up and walked into Emmett's huge kitchen and pulled the griddle out from under the stove and rubbed it down with butter.

"You cook?" Jasper asked while he mixed the batter. "Umm, yeah. My mom can't cook at all. Like Em. I've had to take care of me and my younger brother ever since my mom got married." I answered.

"Wow. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'm just glad Emmett has someone here. I was afraid he would be like a hobo and resort to eating restaurants' leftovers." I chuckled.

"How's my food?!" Em nearly screamed.

"Hold on a minute you freaking gorilla!" I shouted back.

"You are sooo related." Jasper mumbled under his breath.

"Damn straight." I laughed.

**Playlist**

**Basket Case by Greenday**

**Hello Brooklyn by All Time Low**

**Those Nights by Skillet**

**All The Small Things by Blink 182**


	3. Handcuffs

Over the next few months, things were as calm as they can be with Emmett around. Jasper moved in and we got closer and I was writing a lot more. I worked out a song and it sounded perfect. I am now officially an adult! How about a hell yeah!? I turned 18 three months ago, it's currently June.

I started a three-way call with Aden and Jake.

"Aww! Bella! We miss you so much! It's embarrassing! Jake is trying to play guitar half as good as you!" I could almost see Aden grin.

"Hey, Bellsy." Jake laughed.

"Hi guys! I send you my love. Miss you! I need you, Jake, to sing a few bars of this song. Thought of it this morning."

"Go for it sweetheart."

"Okay. Try like this.

'You get up,

and somebody tells you

where to go to

when you get there,

everybody telling you what to do

Thank you.

It's been another bloody Monday.

And no one is asking what you wanted anyway.'"

Jake tried it and Aden kind of highlighted the main parts of the verse. They sounded awesome.

"Now, it goes 'Nein, nein, nein, nein, nein, nein, nein.

Nein, nein, nein, nein, nein, nein, nein."

"And then 'Scream, till you feel it.

Scream, till you believe it.

Scream, and when it hurts you

Scream it out loud.

Scream...

Back to zero.

Your time's about to come.

Let them know, you're not just anyone.

Your time's about to come.

Scream, till you feel it.

Scream, till you believe it.

Scream, and when it hurts you

Scream it out loud.

Scream...

Shut up!

No! Can't you feel it

No! Can't you believe it

No! And when it hurts you,

Scream it out loud.

No! No! No! No! No! No!

Scream it out loud!

Scream..."

"Oh my god! That's one of the best so far!" Aden squealed after they let me get carried away and finish the song by myself.

"You should do that one by yourself. Guess what, we have some great news!" Jake sounded like he was nearly bouncing.

"What?" I asked, stretching my stiff fingers.

"We got a permanent gig at a club in Seattle. We're moving up there!"

"Holy shit!" I squeaked. "When the fuck are you shitheads coming up!"

"Whoa! Bells! Don't get all excited and piss all over the floor!" Emmett called from the living room.

"Shut up and watch the game!" I yelled back.

"Honies! I'm home!" I heard Jasper shout as he walked in the door.

"Gotta go!" I giggled as I closed my cell phone and skipped off.

Emmett was too engrossed in football to notice that I had news. I jumped on Jasper and started squeaking in his ear the good news.

"Whoa! Calm yourself. Tell me from the beginning."

I told him and he picked me up, swinging me around. Then the most amazing thing happened.

Jasper.

Kissed.

Me.

It was...so hard to describe. Jasper tasted like sweet sugar and mint. Our lips moved in sync. He pulled away and rested his forehead against mine and his piercing blue eyes looked all the way to my soul.

"I've wanted to do that for a while." He whispered.

"Me, too." I grinned, kissing him again.

"Yes! Fuckin finally!" Emmett cheers.

"What?"

"The tension between you two is thick enough to cut with a knife and feed to a third world country!"

"You ass." Jasper interjected.

"Bella!" A happy voice yelled as they burst through the door. Only one straight guy could sound that gay.

"Aden! I didn't know when you guys would get here!" I hugged him and Jess at the same time.

"Well, we were going to tell you we were in a cab on the way here, but you had to go smooch your lover boy." A rougher voice said from behind Aden and Jess. I literally tackled Jake out the door.

"I missed you!"

"Missed you too, small fry."

"Hey! I'm not that small!" I protested. Everybody nearly choked on their laughs. "I'm just not freaking seven feet tall!"

"So. What are we going to do on our first day back together?" Jessica asked.

"Weeeell, I need to go bed shopping."

"Why?"

"Um..."

_Earlier the day before..._

"_Wake up, sunshine." I open my eyes and nearly jump a foot at the closeness of my brother's face to my own._

_Jasper was sitting beside him and laughing._

"_Ugh! It's six in the morning!"_

"_I thought I'd bring back a little Saturday tradition that I really miss." He finishes his sentence glancing around the room. Which makes me look around the room. Covered. In. Candy. Every kind of candy I can think of. He has a pyramid of soda cans next to my bed._

_When we used to live with dad, one Saturday out of the month, at six in the morning, dad would wake us up and we'd eat tremendous amounts of candy. We kept eating it until we got so hyper, we couldn't sit still. Then when we felt the crash, we drank soda. And repeated the process until we couldn't stand it._

"_Well, let's hit it, brother!" I jump out of my bed and over to the pile of gummy worms and stuffed my face with them. Yum! Jasper went directly to the Pixie Stix and Em, of course, went to the chocolate._

_After about half an hour, we were higher than a space shuttle. Jasper turned Hollaback Boy by Cobra Starship on my iPod and Emmett literally screams 'This is my jam!' _

"_Well, then, let's dance!" We jump on my bed and Jasper joins us. _

"_Uh-huh, holy shit  
It's about time you get off my dick_

A few times you've been around that track  
But your ass is still fat, it's gonna stay like that  
'Cause I ain't your hollaback boy  
I ain't your hollaback boy."

_I hear my bed creak and groan against the weight of all three of us. Then there was a crunch and a snap. Down we went. Of course, I was at the bottom of the dogpile. Followed by Jasper, then Emmett crushing us both._

"And...that's why." Jake's shoulders were shaking with silent laughter after I was through explaining.

"Okay. Then, let's go." Jasper grabbed my jacket, handing it to me and took my hand.

"You guys coming?" Aden asked, snapping his fingers. He loved to do that to people, make them think he was gay like that, because I knew he wasn't.

"Are you sure you're not gay?" Emmett asked incredulously.

"If I was gay, would I do this?" Aden dipped Jessica romantically and laid a big one on her.

While we were bed shopping, Jess kept teasing me about the fact that I told her, very, very drunkenly, I might add, that I liked being handcuffed, if you catch my drift.

"Will you let it go!" Aden and I yelled at the same time. Have I mentioned who handcuffed me? Yeppers.

"What? All I said was that these bars on the headboard would be perfect for handcuffing somebody."

"Screw it, I'm sleeping on the couch." I groan and fall onto a display bed. "Ooh, comfy. I'll take it."

**Playlist**

**Scream by Tokio Hotel**

**I Just Wanna Live by Good Charlotte**

**Hollaback Boy by Cobra Starship**

**Damned If I Do Ya, Damned If I Don't by All Time Low**


	4. Does This Belong to You?

"So what was Jessica saying about the handcuffs?" Jasper asked as we lay on his huge bed, where I will be sleeping until my new bed gets here.

"Something that happened."

"What?"

"Um. When I was sixteen, Aden and I went out, we were on and off a lot. One night, I was with Jessica and we were completely smashed. I mean, driving the white porcelain bus for hours, do things that you never want to talk about again, drunk. I was running my mouth about how she should find somebody. It slipped out that I like to be handcuffed. She must've written it down or something, seriously, though, she must have. I couldn't even remember my own fucking name the day after!" When I finished, Jasper was laughing so hard, I thought he would pass out.

"Shut up!" I giggled and playfully punched him.

"Um, Bella! Does this belong to you?" Emmett called from the front of the apartment.

"Does what bel-" I stopped when I saw Brett.

"Brett! What the heck are you doing?!" I nearly screeched and pulled him in the door, looking around for a sign of an adult.

"Daddy put me in a taxi." I looked at the five year old bewildered.

"You mean they aren't here?"

"No. I missed you sissy!" He hugged me and I could feel his tears on my neck as I picked him up.

"Missed you too, Bud." I didn't realize it until they dripped down onto my shirt, that tears of my own were tracking their way down my face. Something sharp poked me in the chest. I pulled back and saw a note pinned to his shirt.

_Take him. We're going to a mission in Ecuador. Behave. Money in his bag._

_Mom and Dad._

"Ugh!" I screeched and tore the note into tiny pieces.

"What?" Emmett questioned.

"Stupid woman! Ungrateful excuse for a human being! Ah!" I was stomping around the living room, with Brett still on my hip and screaming like a maniac.

"Bella. Slow down, Darlin." Jasper grabbed both sides of my face and looked me in the eye.

"Thanks, Jazz." I nodded and took a deep breath, calming down a little bit.

"Bells, who's this little guy?" Em asked.

"Brett, this is your older brother, Em. Emmett, this is your little brother, Brett."

"Awesome! A little brother!" Emmett exclaimed at the same time Brett squealed, "Sweet! A big bubby!"

"Am I not good enough for you people?" I asked, a playfulness leaking into my tone.

"Aww. Sure you are. Who else would do my laundry around here?" Emmett laughed

"You are better than both my mommies put together, Bella!" Brett kissed my cheek and I laughed a little.

"And, Bud, this is Jasper. He lives here, too." Brett kind of hid behind me shyly and waved.

"Bud, I'm gonna go for a minute. You hungry?" He nodded. "Em, could you get him some of that left over lasagna from last night? I have to make a really important call."

I set Brett down and stalked out of the apartment and dialed Renee's cell phone number. Her perky voice answered, obviously not knowing it was her furious daughter.

"Hello?"

"What is your problem? Did you not have enough practice with Emmett and me?" I yelled and passerby's looked at me strangely. I mean, they should. I'm wrapped in a sweatshirt three times too big, a pair of practically non-existent shorts and my hair a mess, screaming into a cell phone.

"Honey, I understand, you must be angry-"

"Angry?" I interrupted. "God, no, mom. I'm furious. No. I'm livid. I want to kill you." I spat. "You're never getting that boy back, do you hear me?! You're an unfit mother who doesn't deserve such a wonderful kid as Brett! Do me a favor, okay? Don't ever call me, talk to me or expect forgiveness. Because you think that you're doing this for God, he's not happy with you abandoning your child! You're going to burn in hell for this and I'm sure of it." I screamed some choice words that would make a sailor hang his head in embarrassment and slammed the phone so hard that it broke.

I sat on a bench outside a small bakery, and just cried. I cried for Brett. I cried for me. I just cried. A warm hand laid on my shoulder. I looked up into a pair of kind brown eyes.

"Are you alright, honey?" The woman with a thick Irish lilt asked. I looked up at her and she looked to be about sixty and had red hair pulled back into a French braid. She looked really nice and had an air of rebellion around her.

"Yeah. Fine." I tried in vain to wipe away my tears with the sleeve of my sweatshirt.

"By the looks of it, I'd say you're not. Would you like to come in? I'll get you some coffee and a bagel and you can tell me your troubles." She helped me up and led me inside her shop to a table in the corner.

She motioned to a girl and sat down beside me.

"Now. What's eating you, sweetheart?" She grabbed a piece of cloth that she was embroidering by hand and started stitching.

"What?" She asked. "Nothing like an old-fashioned stitch and bitch." That made me giggle. The girl came by and introduced herself.

"Hi! I'm Carmen Denali. Gramma, I'm going to take a break and call El."

"That's not really my granddaughter, but everybody around here calls me Gramma, Gram, Granny. What's your name?"

"Bella. Bella Swan."

"So now, you can tell me everything." I don't know why, but this woman listened to my entire life story; laughing when the time came, comforting and smiling bemusedly when I talked about all the trials and tribulations of growing up with Emmett.

"Gramma, how would you react if your mother did that you?" I asked her when she poured some whiskey into our mugs of coffee. I was feeling a lot better thanks to Gramma and her Irish medicine laced into our coffee.

"We're more alike than you realize. My mother ran away with a stranger, leaving me with my younger sister to raise when I was fifteen."

"I really like you, Gramma." I said matter of factly after about two hours. She was giggling like mad and my words were slightly slurred. Carmen had joined us after a while and she was all 'Whoo!', dancing on the bar after they closed.

We lost the coffee and just passed the bottle of whiskey back and forth. Carmen calmed down and started to complain about how she can't find a good man. And I contributed, as well as Gramma.

"You're my best friend, Bella." Carmen slurred.

"Aww, love you, Car-Car." We tried to hug, but missed and hooked arms and fell down laughing.

"Whoo! You lassies up for a little dancing?" Gramma turned her stereo on and we danced around the deserted bakery like three little girls at a sleepover. Carmen and I were singing into a ladel and Gramma was dancing.

"That was fun." Gramma sighed as we laid on top of three different tables.

"Yeah. But I'm gonna feel it in the morning." I groaned while my buzz finally came down off its high.

"Yep. So glad the bakery is closed tomorrow." Carmen agreed, coming to lay on my table with me. We chattered until one by one, we fell asleep. I'd just made two really good friends in the forms of an Irish woman that could easily pass as the senior version of myself and a hyper active teenager.

* * *

**Playlist**

**Mama by My Chemical Romance**

**Dashboard by Modest Mouse**

**What I Got by Sublime**

**Don't Jump by Tokio Hotel**

**

* * *

Please, please, please review!!!! You know you want to!**


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